Amazon UK At Risk for Box Shortages During BFCM

Brace yourself for another potential disruption, as there’s a chance Amazon may have a packaging shortage during the upcoming Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) sale period. ⚠️

The reason for the potential shortage?

Almost 1,000 employees of the packaging company DS Smith – all of whom are General, Municipal, Boilermakers, and Allied Trade (GMB) union members – voted to hold a strike over their pay. ✊

According to the union, their members working across the five DS Smith offices in Britain could protest before November ends.

Aside from Amazon, this British packaging company supplies corrugated boxes to beverage giants Diageo Plc and PepsiCo Inc., biscuit company McVitie’s, brewer BrewDog, and snack company KP Snacks.

What Triggered the Vote to Strike

DS Smith submitted a proposal to increase their workers’ salaries by 3% and release a £760 payment for the fiscal year 2022-2023. The union said that out of their 1,000 members employed by the company, 93% apparently responded to this proposal with a vote to strike.

The union went on to say that the salary increase and payment offer is a “massive real-terms pay cut” as the nation grapples with its record-high inflation rate. Market research company Kantar announced that the UK grocery price inflation is now at 14.7% and overall inflation rate at 10%. 🤯

GMB national secretary Eamon O’Hearn pointed out that DS Smith employees continued working during the pandemic and urged the company to adjust their offer, noting that the company can afford to propose a better offer that shows its appreciation for the work put in by its members. 

How Amazon Sellers and Consumers will be Affected

O’Hearn also emphasized the repercussions of an industrial action to the company and their clients’ businesses.

“A strike at DS Smith could have serious implications across a range of household names – not least Amazon which gets packaging from the company,” he said.

Amazon is just one of the many retailers that offer promos and sale events during Black Friday, the last Friday of November.

For this year, Black Friday falls on November 25th, which may coincide with the industrial action that the affected DS Smith employees are planning to hold. 

🚨According to The Guardian, Amazon said that it isn’t expecting a shortage of packaging. No further explanation was provided.

However, the mass walkout could still spell trouble for Amazon sellers as higher sales volumes, which are typical during the Black Friday up to Cyber Monday period, result in a greater demand for packaging.

With less workers involved in the production of these boxes during an extremely busy period, Amazon sellers may encounter delays before their products get shipped out to their customers. 

The DS Smith union members’ decision to take industrial action is the latest in a series of strikes that have plagued London since the start of summer.

London retailers have shared that their revenues dropped drastically because of less footfall in stores due to the back-to-back rail and transport strikes held by different unions for the same reason: dispute in pay. 

For retailers who are only just beginning to recover from the pandemic’s losses, these strikes are making their efforts to achieve their business’ pre-Covid sales and profits futile.

How Sellers can Prepare for the Potential Delivery Disruption

While Amazon said it is not expecting a shortage of packaging despite this news, it would be best for you to plan and prepare for this potential disruption in order to still make the most out of BFCM.

With only two weeks left before Black Friday, you may have just enough time to keep your 3PLs up-to-date with your packaging needs and ensure you have buffer stock in your 3PL warehouse to fulfill orders via Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM).

✔️ That way, if the strikes push through, you have the option of selecting your preferred courier and shipping orders from your own warehouse instead of Amazon’s. 

To save on shipping costs, try packaging optimization techniques like using a material that can remove excess air or bubbles from your packaging (e.g., vacuum bags for pillows) to reach a smaller parcel size. This method will allow you to fit more units per carton. 

Check out our Master Carton Calculator to figure out the best way to optimize packaging and reduce shipping costs.